Welcome to the first installment of Dimanche (That Means Sunday). It’s a column I’m going to feature every weekend that will include a roundup of some of my favorite things from this past week, whether it’s a bowl of soup, leaves changing colors, an article, or a new store.

The new column is also a way to get me to write on Sunday because usually, I ignore my blog over the weekend. Sometimes things go down and I backlog the news until Monday. It’s not the worst thing to do, but this will help me stay constant. Plus, it’s a good place to reflect on the past week while preparing for the new one.

So without further ado, here is Dimanche:

Strangers Things occupied a big part of my life this past week. I started binge watching episodes before I left for New York but I didn’t finish the second season until this past Thursday. There are many conflicting opinions about the new season. I saw a lot of people bashing it on Twitter and it made me sad because a.) I’m emotionally invested in the characters and b.) I actually think that season two was artistically better than season one. My favorite episode was episode 7, which has stirred some controversy among watchers and critics. Here’s a good article defending the episode (hate on, haters).

The St. Louis International Film Festival is going on right now and I stopped in yesterday to see “Ce Qui Nous Lie,” or as it’s called in English, “Back to Burgundy.” It’s set in Burgundy, France, a beautiful region of the country known for its winemaking. The story is about a man who leaves home and comes back (somewhat reluctantly) after many years to work for his family’s vineyard. It’s funny, sad, and romantic. It made me miss France more than I already do. It’s worth watching, especially if you like French movies (and Pio Marmai).

If you’re in St. Louis right now, I’d highly recommend doing two things: Going to DeMun to see the fall leaves (see the photo at the top of this post), and going to Companion for a fall lunch. DeMun is a quiet, mostly residential neighborhood close to Washington University in St. Louis. There’s a park across from a strip of restaurants and coffee shops that’s a prime leaf-watching destination. If you drive a little west, you can have lunch after at Companion. It’s one of my favorite bakeries in St. Louis. Right now they have seasonal specials, so yesterday I got the “Haystack” sandwich with turkey, goat cheese, and slaw with walnuts and cranberries, and sweet potato chipotle soup.

I discovered the blog “CakeSpy” this week and now, my life will never be the same. I’m a big fan of one of her posts, “In Praise of the Dive Bakery.” We’ve all encountered a dive bakery: a place that’s not trying to be fancy. It is what it is, and it’s proud of what it is. In short, it’s not messing around. One of my favorite “dive bakeries” is Schulte in Washington, MO. Their lemon glazed doughnuts are unreal.

I’ve been following Catalonia’s struggle for independence pretty closely these past few weeks. Last month, the region’s former leader Carles Puigdemont declared Catalonia’s independence from Spain. Obviously that did not sit well with Spanish officials, who quickly moved to shut down the movement. Now, Spanish officials are trying to extradite Puigdemont from Belgium. You can read more about the situation here.

Tonight, I’m going to make this recipe for tomato soup for dinner. It was raining and hailing all afternoon here and the rest of the week is supposed to be cold, so I want something comforting and warming tonight.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Stay tuned for my post on tomato soup.